


Must be coincidence, must be fate

by PhantomWriter



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 21:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWriter/pseuds/PhantomWriter
Summary: Hisagi thinks he began seeing a certain 5th Seat often since the aftermath of the Ryoka Invasion.





	Must be coincidence, must be fate

**Author's Note:**

> dialogs in bold are Kazeshini's.

To be fair, Hisagi pretty much got it easy.

He kind of expected some rumor to go floating around, particularly how the 9th Division Lieutenant got his ass handed to him by a mere 5th Seat during the Ryoka Invasion, which could have lost him some respect from his own division and most likely from 11th Division. Heck, that division already got terrible manners and attitude. While Hisagi could simply ignore insults from Captain Zaraki's men, he wasn't sure he could endure mortification and indignation on top of his own captain's betrayal.

Hisagi was surprised that there was no such talk that happened despite knowing Ayasegawa was as bad as Rangiku when it came to gossiping. That narcissistic bastard was the kind to bask on attention.

But seriously, what the hell was that shikai? Aside from dwelling almost every night on Tousen's motivations and as to what changed his perspectives, Hisagi found himself recounting Ayasegawa's hidden ability.

Ayasegawa seemed to be strong for a 5th Seat. He could have made it as a lieutenant, even. Now that Hisagi thought about it, ranking meant nothing at the 11th Division. A child for a lieutenant and there was also Madarame who was said to be as good as a lieutenant too. If the rumors about him already achieving bankai, then he has an advantage over Hisagi.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that Madarame and Ayasegawa joined the Gotei 13 without going through the Academy and yet just as competitive and on the same level with those who were students once.

"Hisagi-san?"

Kira's voice broke through Hisagi's musing. Belatedly, Hisagi eased his grip on the poor chopsticks that were on the verge of breaking. The egg on his ramen that he has been stabbing wasn't so lucky.

"Are you alright, senpai?" Kira tried again. He must have been concerned if he was calling him  _senpai_.

Hisagi waved his free hand dismissively. "Just peachy." He was thoughtful for a moment. "You? How are you holding up?" Hisagi had to remind himself that he wasn't the only victim of the betrayal. "How's Hinamori?"

"She'll be discharged from the Fourth tomorrow," Kira said. "She… She refused visitation today."

"Oh." And here was Hisagi who was yet to visit her at least once. Maybe he could see her when she returned to the Fifth. "You didn't answer me. How are  _you_?"

"Peachy," Kira answered back with a smile. He really should smile more. Kira wasn't this gloomy back at the Academy. The bangs covering half his face wasn't helping either.

"Oi, you have a table for two more?"

Hisagi's eye twitched at the familiar voice that yelled upon entering the ramen shop.

It was Madarame, and Madarame often meant that Ayasegawa wasn't far behind.

Madarame's bald head shone wetly under the lighting. The rain must be still bad outside judging from Madarame's state and the loud swish of air that accompanied their entry. The weather, though, had no effect on Ayasegawa—his hair remained shiny and proper and dry. Hisagi could see no umbrella, but he would rather not overthink much concerning Ayasegawa. He probably pulled some crap that made Hisagi vaguely wonder if he could also do kido.

 _Ugh_. Hisagi barely knew the guy, but he could easily get on his nerves.

To an ordinary eye, the two were searching for vacant seats, but if you looked closely, Ayasegawa's eyes were perceptively sweeping around the room as if counting how many shinigami were present. He must have sensed Hisagi's gaze on him, because Ayasegawa— _the gall of him_ —sent a wink to his direction.

The automatic scowl that Hisagi threw back was met with a smirk.

_This guy…_

"Hisagi-san, you're glaring."

* * *

Hisagi tried to suppress a groan when he spotted Ayasegawa the first thing outside the editing department.

Which shouldn't be surprising since today was the article submissions.

"Good morning, Editor-in-Chief," Ayasegawa greeted, holding up two brown envelopes.

"Good morning, Ayasegawa," Hisagi returned, only out of politeness. "You could have left them inside."

"I know, but I prefer personally handing them to you."

 _Well, I don't._ "Yeah, whatever." Hisagi took the articles. "…Thanks."

Hisagi was clueless when Ayasegawa didn't turn his back to leave with his usual flip of hair. "Do you need something?"

"Do  _you_ need something?" Ayasegawa shot back, nonchalantly studying his nails. "I don't really prefer being idle, but lounging around our division during this time of the day isn't better." He wrinkled his nose slightly. "They're having the morning spar so it smells like sweat and bad breath there."

Ayasegawa spoke as if he didn't experience those every morning. Or maybe he didn't, being ugly or something equally shit like that. "Just make sure Madarame submit his contribution before noon. I'm having trouble with him during deadlines," he said, only to keep Ayasegawa occupied. Not that he was lying; some of the contributors of Seireitei Communications were troublesome to deal with during submissions that Hisagi was oftentimes forced to hound their asses for articles. If not for their enthusiasm to take part, Hisagi would have kicked them off the magazine.

"Before noon? I'll make sure he brings it, or I could do it myself," Ayasegawa said with a nod. "Should I get Renji, Rangiku, and Iba-san's too? They strike me as procrastinators."

Hisagi paused, blinking at the offer. It was rather generous to come from somebody like Ayasegawa. "Uh, yeah, sure. If it isn't much trouble," he said, Ayasegawa already waking away.

"It isn't," Ayasegawa said dismissively. "I'll make sure they get to you before noon."

Somehow, Hisagi knew he could.

...

When Hisagi came back from lunch, five envelopes were already on his table. On top of the stack was a piece of sticky note with a neat penmanship in cursive.

_Here they are. I may or may not have to wrestle some of them for it. –A.Y._

Hisagi was convinced that Ayasegawa was exaggerating—as if he would do something as rough as wrestling.

Still, Hisagi couldn't help the snort that escaped him.

* * *

That should have been their last interaction for three, or, at least, a month.

Things were kinda different this time, because it wasn't even a week yet when he met Ayasegawa again.

The phrase  _Small world_ must have applied in Soul Society too.

As usual, it was Ayasegawa who greeted him first, and, again, out of politeness, Hisagi returned the greeting. Hisagi has no idea why Ayasegawa and Madarame were in a lieutenant meeting, but remembering who their division has for a lieutenant, it actually made sense that these two were the one present. Captain Zaraki and Lieutenant Kusajishi were quite a pair when it comes to breaking protocols.

Hisagi shrugged, not that it mattered anyway. They were assembled halfway the Captains' meeting, hell butterflies flying around for summons. Hisagi wasn't informed of the whole story yet, but it was likely that there would be investigation assignments to be passed on later. The wait was for whether he would be assigned, or depending on the mission, maybe he could volunteer to save time for others knowing he was a fast worker.

Unfortunately, waiting also meant he has to endure Ayasegawa's gaze on him.

He pretended not to notice, of course.

Let it be said that Hisagi was tempted to throw the 5th Seat a scathing glare, because, seriously, what was his problem? Why was he studying Hisagi? Was Ayasegawa reliving on his mind their rooftop battle? Was he getting a perverse satisfaction at that victory that he couldn't help but look at Hisagi every chance he could get to trigger the memory?

What the hell.

Wanting to leave the room immediately, Hisagi instantly volunteered for the mission the moment he heard it from Captain Hitsugaya.

Captain Hitsugaya seemed to approve of Hisagi's initiative, and Hisagi was sure the captain was silently wishing he could say the same for his own lieutenant.

"Alright. 9th Division Lieutenant, Hisagi Shuuhei, you'll be the one to lead your party of three. As for the other two…"

"We'll join him, Captain," Ayasegawa's voice sounded from the back. "Ikkaku and I will join the lieutenant in bringing samples for Captain Kurotsuchi."

"Very well. 11th Division 5th Seat Ayasegawa Yumichika and 3rd Seat Madarame Ikkaku it is. Bring your report before midnight. Dismissed."

Hisagi faintly heard Madarame grumbling about the mission that consisted only of investigating which wasn't included as 'fun' in Madarame's vocabulary. A well-aimed elbow jab to his gut, courtesy of Ayasegawa, shut him up.

Frankly, Hisagi felt like grumbling too the moment Ayasegawa sent him a triumphant smile as if mocking Hisagi's failed attempt of escaping him.

...

By some weird machinations of fate, Ikkaku separated from them the moment they reached the forestland outside of Rukon, with the excuse of covering more ground that way.

Apparently, that also meant Hisagi being stuck with Ayasegawa.

"It could have been worse—you could have been stuck with Ikkaku."

Honestly, that sounded more preferable.

"You'll have to endure his whining and yawning, and I'm telling you, his sleepiness is contagious."

Hisagi supposed he could deal with that.

"No, you can't. I'm telling you that."

"Are you reading my mind?"

Ayasegawa rolled his eyes, tad bit amused. "No, but your face says it all."

Hisagi suddenly felt conscious, schooling his face blank. He wished that Ayasegawa would stop reading him, would stop looking at him.

"Can't help it. You do have a nice face."

Hisagi frowned. "What?"

Ayasegawa held out a hand all of a sudden, head tilting to his left. He sniffed delicately. "Do you smell that?"

"What smell?"

"Something was previously burned."

Hisagi turned to the direction Ayasegawa was looking, searching for a trail of smoke. "There's no smoke."

"Then it could mean that it wasn't burn by a man-made fire. Let's go."

Hisagi let him lead the way, flash stepping after the 5th Seat. They landed on a clearing where scorch marks littered the bare patches of ground. Ayasegawa was the first to approach one, kneeling on one knee to examine closely the burns. At this proximity, Hisagi's senses were assaulted with the acrid smell of several burned unidentifiable materials.

Ayasegawa swiped a finger on the ground, saying, "Burned cloth."

Hisagi silently watched him make swiping gestures within the scorch mark, sometimes closely smelling his finger or simply grinding black dusts between his thumb and index finger. "Burned hair and flesh." He pointed something for Hisagi. "That's burned bones." He patiently waited for Hisagi to catch on. "If the other marks are made of the same contents, we have a number of burned people here."

"How do you know?" Hisagi asked before he could stop himself. No way that Ayasegawa could tell without checking on the 12th Division.

"It's the smell," Aysegawa answered simply, shrugging. "Can't you tell?"

Hisagi wasn't sure whether to be impressed.

...

Unsurprisingly, it was a hollow that,  _unsurprisingly_ , piqued Captain Kurotsuchi's interest.

It was easy to take it down with the three of them when it made its appearance after the trio's running to and fro between the forest and the 12th Division.

In fact, what surprised Hisagi was how it stuck to him how incredible Ayasegawa's sense of smell was.

Strange.

* * *

The next time he saw Ayasegawa again, Hisagi somewhat expected it given the company he has tonight.

Just… not exactly this way.

It was a tradition of sorts that he initially shared with Kira and Renji. Eventually, Iba-san joined in, and Hisagi realized that Iba-san was often equated with Madarame these days.

And Madarame… you know, the usual formula.

Hisagi certainly wasn't expecting Ayasegawa to join them at the hot springs.

The lack of Ayasegawa, despite Madarame's presence, the last two times they had been here suggested that Ayasegawa deemed bathing at hot springs with only a towel on was unbeautiful or something along the lines.

Really, any activity that was err,  _too_   _manly_ , must have been ugly for Ayasegawa's taste.

Makes you wonder.

That was why when Hisagi caught sight of Ayasegawa naked on the waist up with only a towel, it made Hisagi do a double take.

Hisagi realized that while Ayasegawa was never the conventional type of man who displays his body in its full glory during battles or whatever urges a man to discard his clothing, even considering how vain Ayasegawa was, he was actually sporting a proportionately toned physique that reminded Hisagi greatly that he was just as much of a Rukon-bred and a member of a battle-loving squad like Madarame.

When Hisagi began to curiously think why Ayasegawa never flaunted this part of him when it was just as, well,  _impressive_  as his face, Hisagi thought that maybe—hopefully maybe—it was the hot water going up his head.

He definitely  _wasn't_  checking Ayasegawa out.

* * *

"Good morning, Lieutenant Hisagi."

Hisagi was getting tired of this shit.

"'morning, Ayasegawa," Hisagi said, almost a mumble. He had enough of one whole night wondering why in the hell he was seeing more often of Ayasegawa recently.

 **Shouldn't you be asking instead why you're thinking of him often?** Kazeshini snickered last night. Kazeshini might be too aggressive than what Hisagi preferred, but he didn't have the decency to be undignified at Hisagi's defeat from Ayasegawa. For all he knew, Kazeshini enjoyed it when his master was beaten by somebody delicate-looking.

"What are you doing here?" Hisagi asked warily. This early in the morning and his head was already hurting, and it wasn't even because of the amount of paperwork that was mounted in front of him.

Ayasegawa eyed the stack of papers. "Let me help you with those."

"What?"

Ayasegawa pulled the seat in front of Hisagi's desk, getting the top sheet of the stack and began reading wordlessly. "This one is a budget request for whipped creams and yeast."

"What now?"

"You have a member in your division moonlighting as a patissier."

"Oh." Hisagi's mind was blank. Nothing to do but be a supportive lieutenant. "Ah, that's nice?"

Ayasegawa hummed in agreement. "It is. Baking is a healthy recreation to keep one's mind off of things. Do tell me if this person's looking for a tutor. I need something to pass the time."

"You bake?" Hisagi couldn't help but ask.

"I had experience from the World of Living. Only for a brief time though, but I'm quite confident with my skills, and I practice them now and then."

It was productive and time consuming. It made Hisagi glad that some of the members of his division keep themselves occupied since the wake of their captain's betrayal. Hasagi wished he has time for an activity as well. "Approve that one," Hisagi said.

Ayasegawa put the form away, pulling another leaf from the stack.

Well, since it was too late to kick him out now and was being generously helpful to Hisagi, he might as well don't look the gift horse in its mouth.

...

With two people on the job, Hisagi finished just past lunchtime.

"Come. Let me at least treat you to lunch for the help," Hisagi offered. Ayasegawa might have been getting on his nerves, but he wasn't a jerk to not offer compensation.

"Apologies, but I'll refuse," Ayasegawa said, standing up. "There's still something that I have to do back at the division, and I'm sure Ikkaku is already looking for me." He smiled. "Perhaps next time. See you, lieutenant."

And just like that, Ayasegawa left the office in a breeze.

_Next time, huh._

Maybe Hisagi should begin expecting Ayasegawa too.

* * *

Once you adjusted with Ayasegawa's presence, it was easy to get used to him.

During the small talks they have over mountains of paperwork, Hisagi learned bits of pieces about Ayasegawa that went beyond his narcissism and sometimes all-knowing attitude.

Ayasegawa was a pretty decent dude after you see past the image he was showing to all. Loyal to a fault even, especially to Madarame and his division. He also has a weird, bordering dark, sense of humor that Hisagi could honestly enjoy. And from a division with only meatheads for members, Ayasegawa was clever and a philosophical thinker.

Hisagi knew beforehand that even without a captain, he could handle the workload, but he was grateful nonetheless for the aid and the bonus that was knowing Ayasegawa more.

The next time Ayasegawa dropped by, Hisagi made sure to prepare tea in advance.

* * *

**Eh. Getting chummy with pretty boy now, are ya?**

Hisagi twitched.  _Shut up._

**Not that I blame ya. Kujaku isn't a bad company either. Quite aggressive too when situation calls for it. Think that aspect extends to fu—**

_I'm not awake enough for this._

* * *

 

"I'm not taking too much of your time, am I?" Hisagi asked cautiously.

"Not so much," Ayasegawa replied without looking.

"I thought you also handle your squad's paperwork?"

Ayasegawa smirked. "Of course I do. I do not have high expectations from them when it comes to this kind of duty."

"Then isn't this troublesome?" Hisagi asked unsurely. Somehow, he gradually warmed to the 5th Seat's presence that frequented him for over a month now. Really, Hisagi could use some hands. He just wasn't expecting it from Ayasegawa, of all people. "You going all the way here at least twice a week."

"Maybe I want you to owe me," Ayasegawa said flippantly. Hisagi could detect a hint of teasing there which was typical of Ayasegawa. Hisagi had long accepted it as part of the man's quirks.

"Yeah. That's likely since we're talking about you," Hisagi mumbled before catching Ayasegawa's eyes amusedly and breaking into a grin that was impishly returned. "Um, I still owe you lunch though."

"I'm not planning to cash that out anytime soon."

"Suit yourself." Hisagi paused, idly flipping perusing through papers. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you helping me?"

"Because you obviously need help."

Ayasegawa made it sound as if he was a good Samaritan. At this rate, Hisagi was more inclined to believe that Ayasegawa truly wanted Hisagi indebted to him. "A lot of us could use help." He thought of Kira and Hinamori especially. Those two sustained far heavier emotional trauma.

Ayasegawa fixed him that knowing stare. Again. "But Lieutenant Kira has Rangiku and the rest of the 3rd Division, and Lieutenant Hinamori has Captain Hitsugaya. Captain Komamura and you have a common ground, but he didn't serve Captain Tousen. His circumstances are different from yours. Your division is not the same with the Third—they cope on their own while needing your guidance still. Ironic that it's the squad that is left blind after Captain Tousen's absence."

Hisagi wasn't able to be offended at Ayasegawa's bluntness. He couldn't deny the truth of that. "So you're here for me, is that what you're saying? What, you feel guilty that you had beaten me in a fight too?" Hisagi asked, bitterness seeping through his words. What did Ayasegawa know about how he felt anyway?

"Pity?" Ayasegawa scoffed, putting the form he was reading away to focus his attention on Hisagi. "A proud man like you deserves more than pity. Or is that how you see yourself? So low that you believe that's what befits your status?"

Hisagi bit the inside of his cheek, meeting Ayasegawa's eyes on him squarely. It was supposed to be insulting… but not quite. Honestly, he didn't know. Hisagi glowered at him, making Ayasegawa sigh. "So you're here to be my friend, is that it?" It wasn't that Hisagi couldn't be as direct as the man sitting opposite him.

"I'm whatever you want me to be," Ayasegawa replied softly, like how he uncharacteristically smiled then.

Hisagi caught himself watching longer than necessary.  _Just when I thought he's done getting on me…_

Unexpectedly, Ayasegawa reached across the table in a matter of seconds, flicking Hisagi at the forehead.

"Don't overthink too much. Wrinkles are ugly."

It was a wonder how easily the tension on Hisagi's shoulder loosened at the simple gesture. He brushed the spot on his forehead, scowling without heat this time. "Yeah, whatever."

Oddly enough, Hisagi kept touching that part of his skin for the rest of the day.

* * *

The moment Hisagi step foot on his office, he had to squint his eyes at his desk.

Alright. There really was a basket of flowers sitting on the table.

For some reason, Hisagi already knew where it might be from.

_I heard that it's your monthly visit to a grave today. I arranged you a bouquet. –A.Y._

The arrangement was blue in general, with a few white and pink. Hisagi could recognize some of them as carnations, daisies, and some type of lilies in clusters. There were also what appeared to be small blue sunflowers. When Hisagi turned the sticky note, there were scribbles at the back with the list of flower names and their meaning.

This. This was truly an Ayasegawa trait.

...

When Hisagi visited the grave of Tousen's friend, he made sure to tell her the meaning of each kind of flower he brought her.

* * *

When Hisagi joined once again the short trip to hot springs, the shock of seeing Ayasegawa present for the second time was yet to leave him.

A rather shaky 'hey' escaped Hisagi first thing. This prompted Ayasegawa to walk over near him, away from Madarame's side, to slide on the waters beside Hisagi's position, making the latter shift a little to the opposite side to allow some space. It was only enough to keep a more than a breadth away distance between them.

Ayasegawa had never been with Hisagi at the same proximity as before, where Hisagi could see that Ayasegawa wasn't wearing any of those feather decor on his eyebrow and eyelash. Up close, Hisagi noticed that he has long lashes and violet eyes that could turn either darker or lighter depending on the lighting. Hisagi was barely paying attention to what Ayasegawa was saying, catching the gist of it—something about the 11th Division antics and how their lieutenant terrorized the new recruits—because he was too occupied by how smooth Ayasegawa's skin looked and how creamy his neck and shoulders were especially when damp. Hisagi must have been grunting or nodding at the right places since Ayasegawa never once paused in his one-sided conversation, but Hisagi had to stop himself from staring, blinking when Ayasegawa began standing up to excuse himself.

Fuck. Hisagi completely missed why Ayegawa left. He was tempted to slap himself hard for staring.

Well, it wasn't like he was trying hard to look away.

And he wasn't going to deny that Ayasegawa has nice legs either.

"Oi, Hisagi."

For a second, Hisagi was afraid to look at his right where he knew a certain 3rd Seat was calling him.

Shit. Hisagi forgot that Madarame was also there. He swallowed.

"M-Madarame," Hisagi acknowledged, mentally berating himself at the feeling of his cheeks heating up further that wasn't caused by the warm water.

 _This is ridiculous._   _I'm a lieutenant for goodness sakes!_

Madarame's bald head shone menacingly. His head jerked at the direction Ayasegawa went. "Mind telling me what the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Hisagi was internally grateful that came out straight. No pun intended.

"You eyeing Yumichika up. What the hell!"

Expect Madarame to get straight to the point.

"I-I'm not eyeing him up!"

**You're pathetic.**

_Shut up, Kazeshini._

"Oh yeah? I swear you're stripping him with his eye!"

Hisagi winced at Madarame's volume. He even got Renji's attention, much to Hisagi's utter mortification. The hiss to lower his voice was lost on the 3rd Seat.

"I wasn't!"

"Then why are you red all over?! I don't care whether you're a lieutenant! If you dare so much—" A wet towel was slapped at the back of Madarame's skinhead. "Ow! What the hell, Yumichika?!"

"Why are you being so loud, you monkey?!" came Ayasegawa's furious voice behind his best friend. "Tone down or I'm going to deny that I'm with you here. You of all people should know that I don't need my virtue and honor defended."

"Keh. So this is how you repay me then?"

"You idiot." Ayasegawa looked undignified, crossing his arms with a huff. "I  _am_ flattered that somebody like  _him_  finds me attractive."

Hisagi, who was momentarily forgotten and was attempting to blend at the background by dipping his body lower on the water, choked ungracefully. "I don't!" Hisagi yelled unconvincingly.

Madarame's eyes glinted dangerously. "Are you saying Yumichika is ugly for taste?"

"What? That's not the po—"

Ayasegawa gasped at Hisagi. "Shame on you!"

"Yeah, shame on you! Yumichika is the prettiest guy you could get!" Madarame, the ever supportive best friend, piped up, the water splashing loudly as he stood firm without minding his uncovered family jewels.

"Ikkaku, that's a very straight thing of you to say," Ayasegawa said. "But thank you for that." He beamed, batting his eyelashes flirtatiously. Judging from the annoyed yet fond grunt Madarame gave Ayasegawa, he was immune to this certain gesture.

Hisagi? Not so much.

* * *

Hisagi prided himself as a patient man with a cool head.

Lately, though, Ayasegawa has been testing the bounds of that.

He wasn't able to push past Hisagi's limit, however, and for that Hisagi was proud of himself.

This morning was another matter entirely. Funny, it wasn't even Ayasegawa who made Hisagi blew his top off, but it was three new recruits who have been showing promise by being the best in gossiping during working hours. Hisagi was ready to give his usual (calm, mind you) speech of how they shouldn't be idle when everyone was busy. But by the time he got nearer to the three, Hisagi heard their topic of interest clearer.

"I thought Ayasegawa is from 11th. Why is he always here?"

"Dunno. He and the lieutenant are pretty close, don't you think?"

"What like, they're BFFs now or something?"

"No, silly. Ayasegawa's best friend is that bald 3rd Seat."

"Then what is Lieutenant Hisagi to him?"

"Appearing here unannounced and helping our lieutenant with paperwork despite being from another division, why Lieutenant Hisagi must be Ayasegawa's boyfriend!"

"Whoah there. Ayasegawa is from 11th Division, as if there's somebody gay there!"

"Well, you've seen Ayasegawa, right? I mean, sure, everybody loves fighting there, but for all we know, he's just the 5th Seat because he's the one in charge of paperwork there."

"Now that you mention it… Ayasegawa doesn't look like he's cut out for a division like the 11th. Probably as weak and girly in battle as he looks," said the burliest of the three.

"Oi," Hisagi's voice cut through the insulting guffaws. "Done chatting up, ladies?"

"S-Sir!"

"I heard that, you know." Hisagi crossed his arms, foot tapping irritatingly. "And now that I'm here, why don't you personally bring your issues to me?"

"S-Sir, we're not—"

"Huh. The last thing I heard, you're having problems with Ayasegawa being here."

"W-We don't have problems with Ayasegawa—"

"That's 5th Seat Ayasegawa to you lot!" Hisagi's hand that was clutching a thick envelope was twitching dangerously, tempted to smack his subordinates. Hisagi had to remind himself that he was a lieutenant. "Next time, I don't want to hear you lot slandering the name of another seated officer, and if you really think that 5th Seat Ayasegawa is a weakling, why don't you go challenge him and experience for yourselves how that man can singlehandedly hand you your asses!"

The three were blurting out apologies after another before scrambling away from their seething lieutenant. An angry Hisagi wasn't part of the 9th Division Recruitment Fair Brochure.

There was a giggling from behind Hisagi.

Hisagi flinched… and paled upon seeing who it was. "What are you doing here?"

"The usual," Ayasegawa said after recovering. "What's with you? Even your subordinates know why I'm here." There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

Hisagi cleared his throat, looking away in embarrassment. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything, I guess."

Hisagi wished the ground would swallow him up now.

"Don't worry. It's just me," Ayasegawa assured him uselessly. "Although, you really scared your subordinates back there." He smirked.

Hisagi groaned. "Yeah, I know. No need to rub it in."

"Eh. I was gonna say that you look really valiant there in keeping my reputation intact."

 _That wasn't what your said to Madarame_ , was what Hisagi wanted to say, but Ayasegawa had beaten him to it by puling Hisagi's arm to him and latching on to it. "Wha—"

Ayasegawa shushed him. "Shut it,  _boyfriend_. Now treat me to that lunch you still owe me."

_Boyfriend. Really, this guy…_

Hisagi wanted to reprimand him for his nerve. He swore he wanted to.

But maybe later, when he was finally done cooling down his flushed face first.

"Fine." Hisagi grumbled amidst his terribly red face. "Let's go."

Should this have happened some months ago, Hisagi would have the mind to shrug Ayasegawa off of him and reprimand his bordering insolent behavior to a higher seated officer. But now that he knew he was on common ground with him regardless of the rank—and finding that Ayasegawa wasn't bad a company—he decided to let him be.

Besides, Hisagi couldn't mind it one bit when Ayasegawa actually fit in on his side like a puzzle piece that Hisagi didn't know he was looking for.

"And it's not  _boyfriend_. It's Shuuhei to you." It was a tad bit late, but whatever; he made his point.

Ayasegawa quirked a smile at him. "Then it's Yumichika to you."

Hisagi's own lips formed a smile on their own as if a retort.

Overall, it seemed like a promising start between the two of them.

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Meaning of the flowers in the bouquet:
> 
> Carnation (white) – Remembrance
> 
> Carnation (pink) – Gratitude
> 
> Gladiola – Strength of character
> 
> Daisy – Innocence
> 
> Larkspur – Beautiful spirit


End file.
